Marika Kato
Marika Kato (加藤 茉莉香, Katō Marika) is the main protagonist of the Miniskirt Pirates/Mouretsu Pirates series and the current captain of the pirate ship Bentenmaru. Appearance Light Novel Marika has long pink/orange hair and light blue eyes. Two sections of hair come down either side of her face to chest level and spiral slightly towards the ends. As captain of the Bentenmaru, she wears a black captain's coat with gold highlights, open at the lower and upper front, and the lower rear. The coat has white cuffs with gold highlights, shoulder guards, a plated section hanging around the left shoulder, and white frills along the open sections, the ends of the sleeves and the neck. An oversized belt at the waist holds her sword. She also wears a bicorne with the same colour scheme as the coat, with a pirate emblem in the middle of the front, white frills along the top and tuft coming out the middle-left side. She also wears a red checkered skirt and black boots. Over the course of the novels, certain details of Marika's design have been changed (as seen on the covers), such as her facial design, her hair colour and the emblem on her hat. Anime Marika has light blue eyes and long, dynamic, orange hair that extend slightly above her waist. She usually wears two hairclips on a clump of hair beside her left eye. Marika's school attire includes the standard Hakuoh Academy uniform: a combination of a blazer (top) and a thigh-length skirt (bottom) with a white collared shirt underneath and a red ribbon situated at the front of her chest. During work hours at the Lamp House and during Yacht Club activities, Marika dons a maid outfit and a blue Yacht Club hoodie, respectively. As captain of the Bentenmaru, Marika wears parts of her school attire (namely, the collared shirt, skirt, and footwear) underneath a black coat with gold highlights that is open at the lower front. The coat is complete with white cuffs and frills at the ends of the sleeves and white skull emblems on the upper arms. Marika also wears a pale-yellow ribbon with a green gem-clip, and a brown waistcoat underneath. A black cape with a maroon tint inside is attached behind the coat via the shoulder guards. Marika's sword is attached to a red belt at the waist, positioned at her left. She also wears a bicorne hat containing the same colour scheme as the coat, the secondary Bentenmaru emblem in the centre, a red string at the front-left and a white tuft located at its middle-left side. Later in the series, the Bentenmaru captain's ID ring is passed on to Marika by Gruier, though it's too big for her to actually wear. During the Hakuoh Pirates and Nebula Cup arcs, Marika's uniform sports a few changes, courtesy of her good friend Mami Endo. The usual ribbon on the neck is replaced by a large orange one. The cuffs at the ends of the sleeves become red with yellow frills, and the black/maroon cape is replaced by a white cape that splits into several feather-like ends (with red tips). In Mouretsu Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace, during the search for Professor Mugen's legacy, Marika wears a red version of her captain's uniform with a black cape, a green strap going across her right shoulder and a brown belt Mouretsu Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace. Manga : Marika's character design in the web-manga contains elements from her character designs in both the novel and the anime. Marika has blue eyes and long pink-orange hair, with a section curling outwards and a section coming down to chest level on either side of her face. Her captain's uniform consists of a black coat with gold highlights (complimented by large gold buttons), white cuffs, frills on the sleeves, a neck-ribbon, and shoulder guards. Additionally, she wears a checkered orange-red skirt, boots, a bicorne with a tuft out the side and a pirate emblem on the front. To complete the outfit, she wears a red belt around her waist with a sword fastened to it. Personality & Character Marika is cheerful, optimistic and charismatic. She can be naive and a little clumsy at times and can come across as an airhead. However, beneath her usual self lies a cunning, slightly devious, and intelligent persona. During those times when Marika becomes serious - generally during her hours as captain - her usual silliness is replaced by overwhelming brilliance, enabling her to consider (and to an extent, utilize) any and all options available to her in order to maximize her advantages. Marika values the safety of her crew and ship above all else, but is willing to take considerable risks if doing so will be beneficial to them in the long run. Marika is a hard worker and frequently pushes herself beyond her limits, but she does ask for help when it is necessary. Additionally, she often oversleeps and is incredibly difficult to wake up Sailing 16. Skills & Abilities Born leader : Marika has excellent leadership skills, capable of making quick decisions and sticking to them, and keeps herself relatively calm under pressure. She is dependable and hardworking, and will always see her tasks through to the end. Her cheerful attitude and charm also helps to bring people to her side. Cunning intellect : Marika knows what tools she has available and what possible options are open to her, and from that she is able to make the best use of what she has to achieve the best result for herself and her crew. She is intelligent and tries to plan ahead, be it for an enemy's possible actions and a plan for a counterattack Sailing 04 or what the ship will need in the near future Sailing 24. She is also capable of thinking outside the box and coming up with solutions that might not occur to other people Sailing 05. Accomplished aviator : Marika is a skilled pilot, impressing Kane during a dinghy simulation Sailing 01 and dodging machine gunfire from the Bisque Company during the Nebula Cup Sailing 21. Versatile combatant : Marika is also trained in swordplay, handling guns, hand-to-hand combat, electronic warfare, navigation and model-making Sailing 06. Occasional chef : Marika is capable of making fantastic parfaits and later becomes able to cook great pot-au-feu after finding the Kato family's secret recipeSailing 19. Relationships Ririka Kato Marika and Ririka have a fairly relaxed, trusting and friendly mother-daughter relationship. Marika rarely calls Ririka 'Mother', and instead refers to her as 'Ririka-san'. Ririka is also the person that Marika admires the most. While Marika trusts and supports her mother wholeheartedly, Ririka, on the other hand, keeps a few secrets from Marika — namely, the Kato family's pot-au-feu recipe, working as a pirate after quitting her job, and the fact that Marika's father is alive. Whether Ririka's reason is to protect Marika or simply to see what reactions Marika will have regarding the secrets is unknown. Mami Endo Mami has been Marika's closest friend for quite some time, having known her since at least middle school. Marika oftens talks to Mami about the events and troubles going on in her life — and in the Bentenmaru — whereas Mami tries to help her as much as she can. Mami began accessorizing Marika's captain uniform after Marika officially accepted her position as captain. She has adorned Marika's uniform with various ornaments (e.g.: numerous ribbons, a cape) and has even made entire outfits for the Yacht Club during their time as pirates. Chiaki Kurihara Initally considering Marika her rival, Chiaki begins to develop a friendship with Marika after helping her escape her would-be captors. As the series progresses, Chiaki teaches Marika many things regarding piracy, and becomes very impressed at how Marika deals with certain situations. She also develops a deep fondness for Marika, even though she denies it. Marika is also very fond of Chiaki and never fails to greet her with an excited smile. She is never disheartened by Chiaki's constant rejections and instead seems to embrace them. Gruier Serenity At their first meeting, Gruier was skeptical of Marika's competence as captain of the Bentenmaru, since she was previously acquainted with its former captain, Gonzaemon Kato. After spending some time with Marika aboard the Bentenmaru, Gruier gradually realizes that Marika is pleasant to be around, and naturally comes to admire Marika. Following the events of the Golden Ghost Ship Arc, Gruier has become very fond of Marika and even decides to stay with Marika to assist her with Yacht Club activities and piracy. Grunhilde Serenity Marika's and Grunhilde's first meeting was not the friendliest, being on opposing sides at the time. Following the events that involved Gruier and the golden ghost ship, Grunhilde began to hold Marika in the same light Gruier did. Grunhilde's friendship with Marika develops further after she and Gruier are invited over to Marika's house to have dinner and play. Along with Gruier, Grunhilde decides to stay with Marika to assist with Yacht Club activities and even piracy. Hakuoh Academy Yacht Club Marika and the members of the Yacht Club are all good friends with each other, and will not think twice to help each other in their time of need. Later in the series, Marika requests the assistance of the Yacht Club during the time the original Bentenmaru crew members were incapacitated, showing that she has complete trust in their abilities. Marika also proves herself to be a good example to her juniors, giving them her constant support. Misa Grandwood Misa is initially reluctant to appoint Marika as captain, but comes to admire her growth as the series progresses. Before Marika's appointment, Misa arranges her employment as the nurse at Hakuoh Academy, working along with Kane. Misa occasionally serves as Marika's conscience — more like older sister — usually presenting Marika with the various implications of her choices. She also instructs Marika about pirates and serves as a first-mate of sorts, seldom taking over command of the crew when Marika is unable. Furthermore, she teaches Marika how handle certain situations, especially those that concern foreign relations. Kane McDougal Before revealing Marika's position as the captain of the Bentenmaru, Kane is assigned to be Marika's homeroom teacher at school, with the premise of scouting Marika's abilities ahead of time. Kane also serves as one of Marika's pirate trainers, considering that Marika knew nothing about being a pirate. At one point, Marika has told Kane that she is sometimes unsure about how to address him, since he used to be her teacher at school. She then adds that the uncomfortable feeling stays because he still talks to her politely regardless of his position. Coorie Marika's and Coorie's relationship has not been fully developed, but the two are comfortable enough around each other and have a mutual respect for each other's abilities. She trains Marika on electronic warfare alongside Hyakume. Schnitzer Marika's and Schnitzer's relationship is mostly professional, though the two can be quite casual towards each other. They have both gained each other's trust through their respective abilities. Hyakume Hyakume believes in Marika's ability as captain, but will not hesitate to teach her a thing or two about his job. He teaches Marika about electronic warfare, alongside Coorie. Luca : Relationship has not been explored past captain-subordinate stage. Presently, they only acknowledge each other's talents. San-Daime : Relationship has not been explored past captain-subordinate stage. Presently, they only acknowledge each other's talents. Trivia *Given that Marika's great-grandfather Bunzaemon Kato was the first to captain the Bentenmaru under the Letter of Marque and that the letter can only be inherited by direct descendants, it can be assumed, providing that there wasn't an interruption along the line, that Marika is the fourth captain to inherit the Bentenmaru's Letter of Marque. References Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Pirates Category:Students Category:Pirate Captains